FAQ
What is the difference between a felony and a misdemeanor?
Felonies are serious crimes, typically punishable by more than a year in prison, and they carry collateral consequences such as loss of voting rights or professional licenses. Misdemeanors are lesser offenses with shorter sentences, usually under a year. The exact line varies by jurisdiction, and many systems add a third tier of infractions for matters like traffic tickets.
What is a tort?
A tort is a civil wrong, other than breach of contract, that causes harm and triggers a damages claim. The three classic buckets are negligence, meaning harm from carelessness, intentional torts such as assault and trespass, and strict liability such as defective products. Tort law compensates victims and prices carelessness, in contrast with criminal law, which punishes on behalf of the state.
What is a statute of limitations?
Statutes of limitations set deadlines for filing claims, often two to three years for torts and longer for contracts, to keep evidence fresh and disputes finite. Criminal statutes of limitations are common for lesser crimes, while serious offenses like murder usually have none. Clocks can pause, or toll, and discovery rules can revive claims when hidden harm surfaces years later.
What does the presumption of innocence require?
It requires the prosecution to prove every element of a charge beyond a reasonable doubt while the accused stays silent and proves nothing. Ties go to the defendant, which is why the rule is described as allocating the risk of error. It binds the trial, not public commentary, and affirmative defenses may shift some burdens of production, but the core duty of proof never leaves the state.
What is the difference between a statute, a regulation, and case law?
Statutes are enactments of legislatures. Regulations are rules issued by administrative agencies under delegated statutory authority, typically after public notice and comment, and they carry the force of law. Case law is the accumulated reasoning of courts applying both, binding as precedent in common law systems. On conflicts, constitutions outrank statutes, statutes outrank regulations, and courts referee the stack.
What do lawyers mean by equity?
Equity began as the body of justice dispensed by the English Court of Chancery to soften rigid common law rules. Its gifts are remedies the common law lacked, such as injunctions, specific performance, and the trust. English courts fused procedure with law in the 1870s, but the distinction survives: equitable relief is discretionary, and it demands clean hands. In practice, equitable relief means a court ordering someone to do something or to stop.